Ingenico ePayments, the online and mobile commerce division of Ingenico Group, today announced the findings of its annual worldwide 3-D Secure benchmarking study for the Airline and Travel industry. The study, which was conducted in partnership with AirlineInformation.org, combines a survey of over 100 international merchants from the airline and travel industry with extensive analysis of over 80 million transactions processed by Ingenico ePayments. Following up on a similar study conducted last year, this year’s analysis confirms the dynamic nature of 3-D Secure adoption, showing that approach, knowledge and adoption continue to change from market to market and over time. Ingenico ePayments processes payments for over 90 international airlines, including 5 out of the Top 10 Airlines in the world, as well as leading Online Travel Agencies and other travel companies across six continents.

Key findings of the study, which can be downloaded in full here, include:

Adoption Continues to Vary Widely: Several large eCommerce markets – most notably China and Russia - have seen significant growth in 3-D Secure adoption in 2015. Many European markets, including Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Norway, as well as most key markets in Latin America - Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico – also saw an increase in the past year. On the other hand, the share of transactions authenticated with 3-D Secure dropped in several other European markets, with the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Romania and The Netherlands all showing a drop in 3-D Secure authentication over 2015.

Knowledge is Increasing: Merchants are increasingly measuring the impact of 3-D Secure authentication on sales. The number of respondents that indicated they don’t know the impact of 3-D Secure on their chargebacks has dropped from more than half in 2014, to about a third in 2015. Similarly, the number of respondents that don’t know the impact on their abandon rates dropped from 41% in 2014 to 34% in 2015. This increase in awareness could be attributed to the increased use of data analytics to measure payment performance, such as Ingenico ePayments’ Elevate Business Intelligence tool.

Always-On 3-D Secure Authentication is Declining: While the number of merchants that use 3-D Secure flexibly has remained the same at just over half of all respondents, 2015 saw a decline in the number of merchants that indicated use of 3-D Secure for all transactions. Online Travel Agents (OTAs) lead the way in flexible use of 3-D Secure at 75%, with airlines and other travel-related merchants following at 49% and 50% respectively.

“The travel and tourism industry was among the first to embrace eCommerce as a route to market, and remains eager to adopt new technologies to improve its performance. The nature of the business is that Average Transaction Values are high, forcing airlines and travel merchants to continue to refine fraud prevention solutions,” said Ludovic Houri, Vice President Products & Payments at Ingenico ePayments. "Interestingly, we see more merchants measuring the impact of 3-D Secure on key performance indicators such as chargebacks and drop-offs, using advanced data analytics such as our Elevate Business Intelligence solution. Undoubtedly, having a better understanding of how 3-D Secure impacts sales helps merchants make informed decisions about when and when not to use it.”

Ingenico ePayments has a long track record of working with leading merchants from the travel and tourism industry. With deep expertise across all Airline categories, from regional leaders such as Kenyan Airways and Egypt Air, to hybrid TO/airlines such as Jetairfly.com and legacy carriers such as and Delta Air lines, Ingenico ePayments helps airlines provide the best possible customer experience at checkout. Our unique portfolio of products and services can be adjusted to meet a the unique requirements of travel companies with custom solutions that drive conversion across all channels.

About Ingenico ePayments

Ingenico ePayments is the online and mobile commerce division of Ingenico Group. We connect merchants and consumers, enabling businesses everywhere to go further beyond today’s boundaries, creating the future of global commerce. As industry leaders since 1994, our innovative spirit drives us forward across all channels. We are the trusted partner of 65,000 small and large merchants who rely on us to make payments easy and secure for their customers. With advanced data analytics, fraud management solutions and cross-border commerce expertise, we help merchants optimize their business and grow into new markets around the world. For more information visit www.ingenico.com/epayments or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.